REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama -- More than 300 high school juniors from across the Tennessee Valley toured specific locations on Redstone Arsenal to learn about opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, during the 15th annual Adventures in Engineering Oct. 21.
The purpose of this event, aimed at high school juniors, is to promote science and engineering disciplines as a career choice. It offers students an opportunity to observe what engineers do on a daily basis, provide them with hands-on knowledge and encourage their pursuit of a science.
Maj. Gen. Ed Daly, deputy chief of staff for the Army Materiel Command, encouraged the students to consider both military and civilian STEM opportunities in federal service at the opening assembly at Calhoun Community College's Huntsville Campus.
"Think about the opportunities in your future. Figure out what you want to achieve and go for it," Daly said. "If you want to be part of a championship team, then think about opportunities in government service."
He said the Army has more than 40,000 civilian and military scientists and engineers and challenged the students to have a life plan that captures not only what they want to do, but who they want to be.
"Don't forget about character and integrity," Daly said. "What you are is more important that what you do for a living. Use today as a jumping-off point for your future."
The program is designed to expose students to STEM opportunities, said Doug Allen, representative for the Air, Space and Missile Defense Association, or ASMDA, which sponsors the program.
"Local companies and government organizations want to develop the next generation of engineers and scientists," Allen said. "Today gets you out here and lets you know what's going on."
Adventures in Engineering is an annual event sponsored by ASMDA, National Defense Industrial Association, or NDIA, and Team Redstone. Local supporting organizations also include Redstone Arsenal tenets, University of Alabama in Huntsville and Calhoun Community College.
"I can't think of a finer place for a young person, who is interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, to be then in this room this morning," said Dr. Stephen Calatrello, Calhoun Community College's acting interim vice president for instruction. "When you think about it, you, simply by virtue of living here in the Huntsville community, are uniquely positioned in a way that many high school students across this state and across this country are not."
Organizations participating on Redstone Arsenal were the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, Missile and Space Intelligence Center, UAH Aerophysics Research Center and NASA.
"Since the tour began, I have seen a bunch of testing towers and different resources they have here," said Alex Parker, a Holly Pond High School junior, when visiting the USASMDC/ARSTRAT Technical Center Concepts Analysis Laboratory, or CAL. "I have gotten to speak with some of the engineers who have told us what they do here and how they use various equipment to accomplish their missions.
"This makes me very excited to follow the same path in the future," he added. "If anyone has a chance in the future to come out and see this, it is a great opportunity for those in the STEM field. Even if people aren't interested in engineering, they need to see this at least once."
Students visiting the CAL witnessed several ongoing test programs and learned about various school and employment programs available.
"Adventures in Engineering was very successful," said Andrea Weathington, CAL supervisor. "The CAL presented the command overview video, a lab-developed demonstration of counter-rockets and mortars, or C-RAM, concepts, a tour of our nanosatellite ground station, and demonstration of 3-D printing and printed circuit board milling capabilities. The CAL engineers talked about how they became interested in engineering and about the benefits of the Science, Mathematics and Research Transformation, or SMART, scholarship program, the path that led most of them to a career at SMDC.
One students was curious about SMDC's nanosatellite programs and 3-D printing capabilities and inquired about job opportunities at SMDC.
"This has piqued my interest and informed me more about engineering," said Mackenzie Weaver, a Holly Pond High School junior. "This is something other students should very seriously consider looking into. Whether they are interested in it now or not, there are a lot of possibilities for career opportunities. It is very exciting.
"Today is very exciting," she added. "It has been a real pleasure to be able to come here and do something like this. I have learned a lot being here."
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